Monday, May 10, 2010

SWS: 86% of voters reject bandwagon, command voting

A recently posted Social Weather Station (SWS) survey, conducted from April 16-19, 2010, but just released by the polling firm yesterday, found that 86 percent of registered voters will vote according to social interest rather than self-interest by choosing the statement of “I will vote for a candidate if most will benefit from him/her, even if I myself will not” over “I will vote for a candidate if I will benefit personally from him/her, even if most will not”.

The survey also found that majorities will decide for themselves rather than be told whom to vote for, believe popular support rather than political machinery wins the election for a candidate, and will follow their conscience rather than go with the bandwagons.

The SWS release said that in the question comparing social interest and self-interest, 86 percent chose to say that “I will vote for a

candidate if most will benefit from him/her, even if I myself will not,” and only 14 percent chose to say that “I will vote for a candidate if I will benefit personally from him/her, even if most will not”.

The latest percentage of social-interest answers is higher compared to 79 percent in April 2007.

In the question comparing independent-minded voting over command voting, 84 percent chose to say that “Most people here decide for themselves whom to vote for”, and only 16 percent chose to say that “Many people here are just told by the leaders who to vote for.”

The new proportion of voters believing that people would vote independently is similar to 81-85 percent in the pre-election surveys of 2001 and 2004. It is higher than 79-80 percent in the pre-election surveys of 2007, but not as high as 89 percent in the pre-election survey of 1998, the release said.

In a choice between the statements, “A candidate wins due to true popular support, with or without political machinery,” and “The political machinery of a candidate wins the election for him/her,” 78 percent chose popular support and 21 percent chose political machinery.

The latest percentage of popular-support answers is higher than 63-66 percent in the SWS pre-election surveys of 2004 and 2007, but not as high as 85 percent in the pre-election survey of 1992.

Given the introductory statement: “There are those who say that one should vote according to one’s conscience, whether or not the candidate would win. There are others who say that a vote for a losing candidate would be wasted, therefore, one should vote for a candidate who leads and would probably win,” 77 percent chose the conscience vote by saying “Vote according to one’s conscience” and 23 percent chose the bandwagon vote by saying “Vote for the one you think will win”.

The conscience-vote answers have ranged between 77 percent and 87 percent in 10 SWS national pre-election surveys from 1992 to the present.

The April 2010 survey found that while most voters across all major study areas believe in social interest, independent-minded voting, popular support, and conscience-voting, the proportion of those who belief in self-interest voting, command voting, and political machinery tend to rise the farther away from the capital.

Voting to benefit self-interest over social interest is 20 percent in Mindanao and 15 percent in the Visayas, slightly higher compared to 11 percent in Balance Luzon and 8 percent in Metro Manila.

Command votes tend to be more visible in areas farther away from the capital. It is 22 percent in Mindanao, compared to 17 percent in the Visayas, 14 percent in Balance Luzon, and 12 percent in Metro Manila.